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Hi,

 

There may be a doc out there but I have not found it.

I am looking to deploy a new hardened repository. It seems the ISO is not available. I am not so concerned about the deployment steps as much as getting the disk partitioning setup correctly.

 

I see Ubuntu version 20, but also people moving to 22 and version 24 is now available.  What version are people using running Veeam version 12.2? I have a base deployment on 24 right now.

 

I see some that go with the wizard and let the setup make the disk partition decisions.  I have a server with 24 SSD disks and looking to create a raid 10 with 2 disks for the boot and OS etc. and the a raid 6 with the 22 disks. One doc has numerous volumes based on this comment. “If you want to align with security best practices (e.g. CIS Benchmarks), then partitioning is a bit more complex.”

That article is here: https://www.veeam.com/blog/installing-ubuntu-linux-veeam-hardened-repository.html

I created disks based on the article but not confident I have them setup correctly.

If I can get help on the disk partition and setup I think I can get through the rest.

 

Thanks

Hi @tyoungbauer -

That is the only veeam semi-official post I’m aware of. I created a post on here on setting up a hardened Repo, but I didn’t fully implement DISA configs, etc. 
 

In the above post, I share a place I got quite a bit of initial info in (a Veeam Vanguard’s post), as well as from the User Guide:

https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/backup/vsphere/hardened_repository_limitations.html?ver=120

For my disks, I, like you, used 2 disks for OS (RAID1), then a RAID6 for my remaining disks (6 disk totalling about 84TB). I didn’t worry about LVM...no need imo. I did let the install create everything, but as just mentioned, didn’t enable anything with LVM.

The author of the article is @HannesK . Maybe he can shed more light beyond what I’ve provided.


Thanks for the response.  Am I over engineering with that or should I go without it?  Then I can deploy the OS on one volume and then the repo on the other.

 

Thanks


That’s what I did. How hardened you want it is really up to you. I personally didn’t go that route. I for sure obviously want my data protected and my server somewhat hardened (i.e. the immutability and disabling SSH pretty much does that trick for me), but I don’t need all those DISA rules implemented. Again...that’s just me.

For protecting access to the server, you could enable that only a certain IP or 2 (i.e. your device and a secondary person) can get to it which would further harden it and prevent access from some odd entity. I think those rules are more for highly regulated biz’s like healthcare, finance, gov’t, etc. And, of course those who just want to severely harden their servers 😊


Raid 6, Ubuntu, 250TB vols with reflink 4096, no LVM & placed in a SOBR config is my typical /w throw away creds. 


@tyoungbauer Shane already posted a very nice article about it and mentioned also the series from Paolo (Nolabnoparty.com - virtualization and beyond) and the blogpost from Hannes. I would go with these. This collection were also my base, when i started with several VHR deployments - currently i would say we have about 30 systems of them deployed, without any hiccups.

All of them running on Ubuntu, some with additional hardening, also take a look on Securing Veeam Hardened Repository against remote time attacks.

 

But what i wanted to mention: as of today a Community preview of the new Veeam Hardened Repository ISO was made public available → nPREVIEW] Managed Hardened Repository ISO by Veeam - R&D Forums.

For sure, it’s currently not for productive environments, but this can be the way to go in a near future 😊 Very simple deployment, the smallest disk will be used for the OS, the biggest for the Data Disk/Repository, Reflink already set, integrated DISA/STIGs, updates direct from Veeam, and so many more...


Thanks all…

I did find this link and assume it is somewhere in a thread but thought I would post it again.  It is very good and thorough..  Also has a github with them as PDF files.

https://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/36811/Part-1-Build-an-immutable-backup-repository-for-Veeam-Backup-Replication.html

 

TY


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